White Gold
by Mojotheomegawolf
Summary: What would you be willing to do for the person you love? How far would you go to give them what they want most? How far will she go? Will be bumped up to M later for future content.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright guys, so this story was originally posted under Victory, but we decided to transfer rights to this story. It will still be a joint operation and he will be helping me out in the making of this story since we both came up with the idea. Sit back and enjoy, but first I must give you some very vital information.**

_*Kate and Lilly aren't sisters. This is actually very important for you to know._

_*Humphrey is seeing Sweets. Also important._

_*Sweets and Kate are sisters. Also very important._

_*Lilly and Harv are siblings. I'd you don't know who Harv is, you'll find out._

**Alright, so with that out of the way we present to you, chapter 1. Enjoy.**

There is nothing quite like the late hours of a passing summer day in the central portion of Canada. The sun's purple and amber rays reach out and embrace the land in their warm glow, casting its last light upon the trees, rivers, plains, and hills and dark shadows stretched east across the ground, bringing with them warning of the eminent nightfall. It was on warm evenings such as this that the wolves of the long united Jasper Valley liked to lounge around in the sun, basking in its pleasant rays. They all sat out upon the main grounds, talking casually to one another while the pups played. Even the normally uptight and high-strung alphas found themselves partaking in pranks that the omegas had planned. Life was good here. The food was plentiful, and after the outbreak in the north a few years back the word 'war' had all but become a pup's fairytale. Watching the times of joy from high above the main grounds in the head alpha den was a she-wolf; gray of face while keeping her natural silvery tan fur along the rest of her body. Her beautiful amber eyes seemed tired and content, at peace with the world around her. She watched her people lazing about in the cool evening air and sighed a deep, satisfied sigh.

"Ah our pup could not have ever dreamed that she would get to lead the pack in such a peaceful state," a gruff sounding male voice asked suddenly from behind the she-wolf.

But alas the she-wolf did not fear this voice. With a soft smile she turned her head back and up slightly until she was looking the owner of the voice in the face. He smiled warmly back at her, his silvering gray features showing the wisdom of his old age, and moved slowly to her side, laying down close to her and entwining his tail with hers. For a while the two just stared out at their land, watching the pups play, hearing the laughter from the wolves; until the male turned his face silently to her, still smiling at his thoughts. The she-wolf felt his gaze and turned her face to his, and the two stared deeply into each other's eyes for a long moment.

Their moment was interrupted by a feminine voice sounding softly in their ears.

"Mom? Dad?" they heard.

They smiled broadly and turned to see their only daughter standing a short distance down the ramp from the entrance in which they lay. Her form was that of pride and strength, her posture was excellent and her snow white fur was well kept, from the tip of her muzzle to the two black socks she wore on her hind legs. Her lavender rimmed eyes possessed enough wisdom and knowledge to lead four packs, while also giving way to careless innocence. These were the eyes of a young leader, and it was with these eyes that she would gaze out upon what was soon to be hers, and smile proudly.

Her parents slowly stood up, the two of them stiff with their age and walked over to their daughter, each one taking turns wrapping their necks affectionately around hers, touching their muzzles to her opposite shoulder. She returned the gesture to both of them and took a few steps back.

"So what brings you around Nadia?" the elder she-wolf asked happily, always thrilled to get a visit from their daughter.

"Ah not much," Nadia replied with a grin, "just stopped by to say hey to my favorite wolves in the world."

"I thought that we were your favorite wolves," a male voice suddenly challenged playfully.

Nadia turned around with a smile, seeing her black furred mate walking casually up the hill, behind him two pups of dark tan and blonde. The pups were playing as they made their way up the ramp, tackling each other to the ground and rolling around in scuffles. Nadia's face became stern.

"Arie! Shep!"

The pups heard the tone of their mother's voice and immediately ceased their folly, coming to a rest in an awkward position and quickly untangling themselves. They sat up on their haunches side by side and hung their heads.

"How many times do I have to tell you about not playing around while you're walking up the ramp?" nadi scolded firmly.

They hung their heads low and the blonde furred Arie began to sniffle. Nadia saw this and her pointed tone immediately vanished. She padded over to her daughter and pulled het into a comforting hug.

"I'm sorry Arie, Nadia crooned, "you know I don't mean to snap at you. It's just that I worry for your safety.

Arie sniffed and returned the hug.

"You know that your father and I love you guys both very much, and we would be devastated if anything were to happen to you."

Arie coughed lightly and pulled away, looking up to Nadia. Nadia smiled and looked her daughter right in her teary crystal blue eyes.

"You promise?" Arie asked innocently.

Nadia only smiled and pulled her back into the hug.

"I promise baby," she whispered.

Arie smiled and pulled out of her mother's hug.

"I love you too mommy," she said and released herself from the hug.

Shep watched the whole situation unfold and when they finished he spoke.

"I'm sorry momma," he apologized sincerely.

Nadia smiled and took him into a quick hug as well.

"Oh, you guys know I can't stay mad at you."

Her mate and parents stood by and watched the whole thing and were touched by this moment, causing smiles to steal across their faces. After a few more seconds of watching he padded over to his mate and laid his muzzle down on her shoulder. Nadia turned to him.

"Come on Nadi, pups, garamma and grampa just invited us to stay for dinner."

The pups' spirit immediately brightened and they squealed for joy, sprawling quickly to their grandparents and jumping up and down excitedly, their little tails beating back and forth rapidly. The two elder wolves smiled happily and bent their heads down to their grandpups, taking turns nuzzling each one, and then pulled their heads back up.

"Alright let's go get us some food," the elder male suggested, gesturing the family into the den.

"You know, it's a beautiful evening," Nadia pointed out, "why don't we eat out here?" she suggested.

This got the pups' attention and they jumped up and down excitedly, for this would be the first time that they had ever eaten outside of a den. The elder wolf smiled and looked to his mate, seeing her nod in approval and said,

"Alright, yeah let's eat out here," he said and walked toward the back of the den, grabbing the leg of a fresh killed caribou, "and itsh a good thsing becaushe thish carihou wash haking up jusht a bih HOO MUCH... ROOM! Gah."

He grunted in his speech as he dragged the body of quite possibly the largest caribou that Nadia, and her mate for that matter, had ever seen, and placed it on its side in the middle of the group with a relieved groan.

"Oh my goodness," Nadia cried in astonishment, "how did you ever manage to take down such a thing?"

Her father only grinned.

"Your old man may be, well... old, but he's still got some fight left in him."

This drew some laughter from the family and he joined in with them.

"Alright, well enough chitchat," the elder male said finally, cutting away the laughter, "let's eat. I'm starving."

Nadia and her mate nodded and began to slice the skin open, revealing the succulent flesh beneath. They then peeled some of the skin back and finally dipped their heads, taking the first bloody bite.

"Mmm, this is delicious dad," Nadia said, her mouth rimmed with blood.

"Only the best for my family dear," he replied and began to eat as well.

The pups followed suit, as did Nadia's mate, and lastly her mother until they were all feasting upon the delicious red meat.

* * *

The family ate and ate until they were certain that if they took one more bite their stomachs would surely explode, and even still there was enough meat left on the carcass to feed another two or three wolves. The sun was now nearly down and the other wolves of the territory were beginning to make their way to their dens for the night. The carcass was taken into the den by Nadia's mate, and now they all lay about on the little outcropping in front of the den. Nadia had Arie and Shep between her forelegs and was cleaning them of blood and Nadia's mate was doing the same for her, grooming her soft white fur with his tongue. Nadia's parents lay together nearby, grooming each other's faces and laughing softly as they thought about how they used to do this when they were young. It was breezy out, and the wind blew soft and warm through their fur, seeming to be a perfect end to such a perfect day. Arie looked over from her cleaning to her grandparents and her innocent curiosity began to rise.

"Um, gramma Nyla? Grampa Flint?" she asked sweetly, gaining the attention of ther elder couple.

"Yes little one?" Nyla asked, smiling adoringly back at her.

"I was just wondering... where are you and grampa from?" she asked, her eyes full of question and mystery.

Nyla chuckled at the question and turned to her mate, remembering the story that her parents had told them all those years ago.

"Well, it all began many many years ago, back before your grampa and I were even born; when two lovers, separated by the laws of nature, discovered the Secret..."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Twenty-Eight Years Ago**

The temperature on this day was warm, not unbearably hot, but not cool either; in all senses perfect like the beautiful landscape of the park. The sun shone brightly above the park, casting its yellow rays of the afternoon down upon the land, seemingly giving it a life to call its own. Today the breeze was stiff, blowing unpredictably in vengeful gusts that roared across the land, sweeping rhythmically across the grass and the lilies causing them to dance in effects similar to the waves in the ocean and sparse white clouds blew across the territory in thin whisps, resulting in only the faintest of botches in the otherwise unmolested sky.

Underneath this sky was a much younger Jasper Park, and in this park there was a den in which we find two sisters, both of auburn fur, laying down side by side of each other on the little outcropping that overlooked the territory. It wasn't much of a sight to see in truth, just a pack of hungry wolves scrapping the ground for even the tiniest bit of food. They dug holes or resorted to bullying in order to get substinence. Alphas would wait patiently for omegas to unearth a bone to which thin membranes of leathery flesh still clung, then move in quickly and simply take them and omega that offered protest was quickly thumped back into their place and forced to simply try and find something else. It hurt them really, the two sisters, and they were sure that it hurt their parents too, having to watch their pack starve today because of a sabotage from the East in their hunt earlier in the morning. Now they could've always tried again, which they did, but the caribou were already learned for the day of their presence so they couldn't even get close. The alpha of the two sisters sat quietly, her face crestfallen in depression for she placed all of the blame for their failure upon herself. She felt as though she had done something wrong, but in truth she did everything right, and this is what the omega of the pair was trying to tell her sister.

"Come on Kate," she would try to comfort, "you can't blame yourself for what happened."

"Then who should I blame Sweets?" Kate answered sadly, "I should've been able to smell those bastards and improvise. That was week two in Alpha School."

Sweets placed a paw on her sister's shoulder, trying her best to offer her some comfort and ease her guilty mind.

"It was your first hunt sis," she condoled, "how could anybody expect you to be flawless? Yes you made a mistake; but it isn't one that alphas even more experienced than you haven't made before."

"She's right hun," a deep male voice spoke assuringly to Kate, "even your old man back when he was young."

Kate and Sweets turned back to look at their father, a middle aged wolf with a light black back and gray streaks and markings across the vicinity of his body. Behind him stood their mother, a tan wolf from whom the two sisters had no doubt gotten their fur and eyes from. The latter of the two stepped forward past her mate.

"Yes, I have done the same thing dear," she admitted, "it's all part of the learning experience, isn't that right Winston?" she said looking to her mate for affirmation.

Winston nodded.

"Yes Kate, I don't think I've met a single alpha in my entire life that hasn't made that mistake at least once at some point," Winston informed.

"But now because of me somebody almost got hurt and the pack won't get to eat," Kate whined, her face pouty.

"There is always a risk when we hunt Kate," Winston replied, his voice soft and soothing, "you know that."

Kate nodded slowly, but she offered no reply.

"And besides, there is always tomorrow Kate," their mother, named Eve, added, "the thing to do right now instead of pouting over your mistakes is to learn from them so you don't make the same one twice."

"Mom's right Kate," Sweets answered assuringly, rubbing her paw on Kate's shoulder, "everything that you do wrong is a lesson taught by Genetrix."

"Too bad my little "lesson" is forcing the pack to starve right now," Kate muttered miserably.

She then stood up and began to walk sullenly down the ramp, her head held low and her paws dragging in the dirt beneath them. She could feel the eyes upon her as she walked, but, though her mind told get the eyes she felt were eyes of disgust, in truth they were that of empathy. They didn't blame her for what happened nor did they feel anguish toward her; but that didn't mean that such feelings were absent. They knew who was responsible for this and they placed all of their feelings of distaste upon the East, not on Kate. True they had expected better from the Alphas' daughter, but in the end what could you really do besides brush it off and say, "always tomorrow."

Kate continued to walk with her head held low in silent dejection, keeping her eyes fixed loosely upon her paws as she made her way out to where she always liked to go when she was feeling down.

* * *

_She had found it by complete accident one day when she was but a young pup playing a game of Caribou Hunt with her sister._

_"Come on Sweets," she called out in playful taunt as she fled before her sister._

_Sweets was consistently slower than Kate, but she still held her own fairly well for an omega, holding a position only four feet behind her, never gaining any ground on her but never losing any either. The two giggled giddily as they chased each other, Kate turning back to see how far behind her sister was, finding Sweets still right on her and... grinning evilly? Now why would..._

_Kate turned her head forward just in time to smash her chest into a tree with a pained "GUH!", then bounced off to the ground slightly dazed but otherwise unhurt. Sweets giggled as she caught up to Kate and pounced on her lightly, touching her forepaws to Kate's hip._

_"Looks like I got you," Sweets bragged, barely able to control get laughter._

_"Stupid trees," Kate mused with a giggle of indignation and shoved Sweets off of her gently, causing the latter to chuckle._

_Kate remained laying down, but she rolled over onto her chest and looked up at the thin little poplar yearling that she had hit, seeing it still quivering slightly and dropping leaves. This was an example of one of those times when something that really wasn't all that funny happened, but in heat of the situation you just couldn't help but find it hysterical. This was one of those moments and consequently it had the two sisters rolling over onto their backs with their stomachs hugged tightly in their forelegs, nearly crying in their fits of hysteria. Their laughter continued until their sides burned dully with pain and their lungs screamed from lack of oxygen, now finding the two laying on their backs, their legs sprawled out in every direction and their breaths dragging out in long and laborious heaves._

_"So Kate, I guess this means you're it," Sweets egged, rolling over on her side to face Kate._

_Kate only turned her head to Sweets, smiling._

_"I guess it does," she answered, rolling to her feet and walking over to a tree, coincidently the one that she had hit, and leaned her foreleg against it._

_Sweets got to her feet as Kate buried her head into the gap between her foreleg and the tree, and she took off hurriedly as her sister began to count. She ran quickly, over rocks, under fallen logs, around trees. She would cut in misleading directions, leaping up against a tree, circling rocks, rummaging shrubbery, until she found a bush that she thought would be the perfect hiding place. With the mixed trail of scents that she had left and where she hid she was sure Kate would never find her._

_"Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty," Kate counted, then pushed off of the log, turning and looking around for her sister._

_"Now where did you go," Kate muttered to herself as she ran her eyes out over the land._

_She began to run the information she already knew through her head. She had heard her sister run off in a direction to her left when she was facing the tree so that means that her sister went right from the direction in which she was facing now. Kate then put her nose to the ground and sniffed a short distance in that direction. Indeed her sister had gone this way. With this known she began to head off into the forest, following her sister's scent in a straight line until it veered off slightly to the right toward a tree. Kate smiled smugly and followed the scent slowly up to the tree, but then the most curious thing occurred. When she got to the tree she couldn't smell her sister everywhere near it. She walked around the tree slowly, circumcising it a total of four times until she stopped in the place where she had originally approached. This was so strange that her sister could just vanish into thin air like this. She sat and pondered this for a few moments until something clicked._

_"Ah the old fox trick eh Sweets?" she mused and walked up to the tree, sniffing a short distance up._

_Sure enough, there was Sweets' scent. She sniffed it then turned and walked a short distance away from the tree in the direction collinear to the scent, finding where her sister landed._

_"Very clever trick Sweets, but you'll have to do better than that," Kate mused, picking up the trail again._

_She moved with her nose sweeping across the ground, continuing on with her search. She sniffed along until she came upon a rock._

_"Got you," Kate muttered to herself and ran up to the rock._

_But when she got there she couldn't see Sweets anywhere, only her scent remained. Kate smiled at just how smart her sister actually was and began to smell her way around the rock until she picked up the trail again, headed off more quickly now. She then came upon a bush, one of which her sister's scent was extremely strong._

_"Come out Sweets. I know you're in there," she called, but she received no reply._

_Kate frowned and stuck her head into the bush._

_"Come on Sweets, it's-"_

_She cut herself off when she saw a little note scribbled into the dirt._

_"Sorry Kate, it would appear that I'm not in this bush; but I have to congratulate you for coming this far. Well, be seeing you soon, Love Sweets. (P.S. That is, if you can find me.)" Kate read the note allowed and chuckled then pulled her head out._

_"That's very good Sweets," Kate called out, for she was sure that her sister was within earshot, "but I'm gonna find you sooner or later."_

_"You can try," Sweets muttered softly under her breath._

_Kate picked up the trail yet again and began to follow her nose to the next spot, another bush, one in which the leaves had been disturbed recently. Suspicious of more trickery, Kate sniffed the bush then everywhere within ten feet of it, finding nothing outside two feet of the bush. Kate smiled evilly and tensed her body then leapt into the bush with her forepaws extended out in front of her._

_"Got ya!" she yelled out victoriously, hearing a slight yelp of surprise._

_She crashed through the bush, seeing the look of shock on her sister's face as her paws made contact with her shoulder, and they tumbled backward out of the rear side of the bush. They giggled loudly as they went, finally coming to a stop with Kate pinning Sweets dominantly, the former staring down at the later proudly._

_"Check mate sis," Kate said with a chuckle._

_"Oh come off it," Sweets replied with a giggle and made to stand up, "I let you find me."_

_Kate rolled her eyes with a smile and took her paws off of Sweets' shoulders, allowing her sister to stand. Sweets rolled to her feet and Kate followed her journey with her eyes until Sweets was up on all fours. Kate smiled at her sister then locked up when she saw what was just behind her, her jaw muscles releasing so it hung slack. Sweets saw this and her face fell into concern._

_"Hey Kate, you okay?" she asked, cocking her head to the side._

_Kate didn't move so Sweets waved her paw in front of her sister's eyes; but again Kate didn't register._

_"Hey Kate," Sweets called again, shaking her shoulder with a paw._

_When Kate still didn't answer Sweets turned around to see exactly what it was that Kate was looking at. What she found was quite possibly the most beautiful thing that she had ever seen. From where they stood the ground dropped sharply down a distance of about twenty feet from a sheer rock face, leveling out at the bottom into a luscious green field with long waving grass and white lilies, yellow wild roses, and purple poppies, all of which danced lightly in the subtle breeze. About midway through the vast span of land lay a lake, the water around the edge a crystal blue and so clean you could see the sandy bottom all the way up to a few feet below its surface. Out in the middle of the lake the sandy bottom became reflective black rock, that sat a good ten feet beneath the surface, giving the water a breathtaking black shine that radiated brilliantly in the mid-afternoon sun. The very center of this lake bubbled slowly, quite lazily; but the sisters knew what those bubbles represented. They knew that the lake they found was actually a natural spring. As for hot or cold they were unsure, but they couldn't wait to find out. The ridge that they stood atop surrounded this clearing in a rough crescent moon shape, its walls gradually growing shorter near each end until they shrunk down directly into the field. Sweets also found herself unable to formulate speech, and she just stared with eyes wide and wondering out at the untamed beauty that they beheld. This place was the definition of perfection in her young mind, flawless in every detail, even down to the pesky widgets buzzing around along the ground in their ornate little balls._

_"This place..." Kate began, her voice low, but she couldn't finish._

_"It's beautiful," Sweets was finally able to say, finishing for Kate._

_Kate only nodded, keeping her gaze fixed upon the land beneath her. For a long moment the two sisters stayed this way, silently staring down upon their discovery, admiring it, savoring the moment; but that moment was soon forgotten as curiosity began to rise._

_"Come on Kate," Sweets began, making her way around the crescent toward where it dipped low enough to climb down, "let's go check it out."_

_Kate smiled happily and followed her sister, unable to contain her curiosity any longer._

* * *

Kate's thoughts were interrupted when she suddenly saw a bone with a few scraps of meat left on it drop in front of her paws. Kate moved her eyes to the bone, seeing it accompanied by four snow white paws. Kate ran her eyes up those paws, up pure white legs, until her eyes settled upon the owner, a crisp snow white she-wolf that sat down in front of her with beautiful lavender eyes and an inviting smile. Kate said nothing.

"Here," the she-wolf offered, her voice as sweet and innocent as a child, "Take this."

Kate only hung her head.

"Hey, it's alright," the white she-wolf comforted, "I don't blame you for what happened, and neither does anybody else."

Kate lifted her head again.

"You- don't think it was my fault?" she asked.

The white wolf conformed her face into one that was soft and assuring.

"Of course we don't," she answered, "and this bone is just a little pick me up, a gift from the omegas to prove it," she explained, gesturing to the bone.

Kate smiled, her heavy heart lifting greatly.

"Really?" she asked happily.

"Of course," the white wolf replied, "we know you did your best."

Kate smiled broadly at the white wolf.

"Thanks," Kate thanked then remembered something, "you know I don't think we've ever met," she informed, "I'm Kate," she said extending her paw.

The white she wolf placed her paw on Kate's.

"I'm Lilly," she replied, "it's good to meet you."

"It's good to meet you too," Kate replied with a smile then placed her paw back to the ground.

"You've all found something to eat right?" Kate asked Lilly, "cause I don't want you guys to go hungry if this is all you've got," Kate finished.

Lilly only chuckled.

"We're fine," she replied assuringly, looking left and right, then brought her mouth close to Kate's ear, "we've got our own little stash of bones that we buried in case the alphas decided that they would be mean and take what we found," she whispered.

Kate chuckled at this, finding it to be quite humorous.

"That's pretty clever," Kate whispered back to her, "great idea."

Lilly giggled.

"Thanks," she thanked happily.

Kate only smiled then turned back to her parents' den.

"Well, I should probably be getting back," she mused, turning slowly back to Lilly.

Lilly smiled at her.

"Alright, so I'll see ya later then?" she asked.

Kate nodded and picked up her bone.

"I'll be seeing you around," she informed, the bone doing surprisingly little to impair her speech.

She then turned and began to head back to her den and Lilly waved her off, but Kate stopped about a few yards away and turned.

"Thanks," she thanked Lilly, "and send my regards to the others."

Lilly nodded.

"Will do Kate," she replied.

"Alright, see ya later," Kate called and turned again, heading back to her den.

"Bye," Lilly replied and turned in her own direction, heading back over to where the other omegas were waiting.

Kate walked up the ramp with the bone in her smiling mouth, cresting the hill and finding Sweets still laying there where she had left, on the little outcropping. She heard Kate coming and she turned to her

"Hey Kate," she greeted happily then noticed the bone, "what's that?" she asked, moving her eyes to the bone.

Kate put the bone down.

"Oh this," she replied, "it's nothing. Just a gift from the omegas to cheer me up."

Sweets smiled.

"Well wasn't that sweet of them," she said with a smile.

Kate giggled at this then picked up the bone again and settled herself down beside her sister again, returning her gaze to the territory; but this time they searched for one thing in particular, her new friend, the white she-wolf by the name of Lilly.

* * *

**Chapter 2. Got two in one day, hooray!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry that it took me so long to update this. Just been finding it hard to motivate myself to write lately. But that should not excuse me from my duties to you, the readers, so no matter what, I WILL do everything in my power to get updates out in a decent time. **

The pups sat on their haunches, staring up at their grandparents with stars in their eyes, much like any youngster who listens to an elder speak. What they were being told intrigued them and each time Nyla and Flint found themselves laughing at the passed down memories, the pups would giggle right along with them, beating their little tails back and forth excitedly.

"Tell us more," they would beg, and Nyla and Flint would just chuckle and laugh, occasionally running their eyes over to their daughter, finding her with a similar look in her eyes, for she never grew tired of hearing her parents' story.

Nyla and Flint would then return their eyes to the pups and laugh, ruffling the fur on their heads with their paws and then would continue.

"Alright," Nyla said, "The next day was one that contradicted the previous in almost every aspect of the term…

* * *

It was hot on this day, the temperatures hanging around in the upper eighties, and to make matters worse, the earth was nearly breathless, the only breeze being one of the slightest whispers, and so dry that the air became that of an oven. Though many of the wolves would have preferred to laze around in the shade all day and wait out the heat, there was work that needed to be done. There was a boarder to protect, and there were caribou to catch, there was peace to keep, and for a certain pair, there was a pack to lead. Leading the pack was not normally a prodigious task, at least not when the Alpha position had first been inherited by Winston and his mate Eve, but that all changed when the East failed to honor the Law of Cail, which stated that when any pack under the jurisdiction of the United Packs of Jasper was attacked by the largest and most dangerous pack in Jasper, the North, it was her neighboring pack's duty to offer aid in battle. However, when it came time for the West to call upon the East for aid, they failed to assume responsibility and the result was the death of Winston's younger brother Jake. After that fateful day, the task of leading the pack was constant stress and turmoil on the behalf of the leaders, resulting in the premature aging of the Alpha Pair. Winston was only four years old, but the pressures of leading a pack in a time of war had caused his naturally faded black fur to become laced in grey features, and his normally easy mind to become wrought with worry for the well being of his pack, and more so, hatred for his once good friend Tony.

* * *

"Wait, wait," Shep interrupted.

"What is it little one?" Flint asked patiently.

"Yeah Shep," Arie accused, "Why did you interrupt grandma and grandpa?"

Shep lowered his eyes and let his attentive ears droop slightly.

"I just wanted to know more about Tony," he admitted lamely, fumbling around with his paws, "I wanted to know why, if Tony was Winston's friend, why he wouldn't help him in his time of need."

Nyla sighed sadly.

"I can't answer that one for certain," she answered truthfully, "maybe it had to do with the recent passing of his mate and he was bitter, in need of somebody else to hurt as much as he did, or maybe it was the advisement of a corrupted mind. Whatever it was that actually happened is still unknown for he carried it with him to his grave, but you know the ultimate consequence of his actions."

The pups both nodded, Shep more than his sister, and the two elderly wolves continued on with their story.

"Winston's mate was in no better condition…"

* * *

Like her mate, she was only four years old, and yet her face possessed the complexion of a wolf more than twice her age. Her amber eyes still burned brightly with the fire inside of her spirit, but in light of this they were fatigued, multiple bags hanging noticeably beneath them, and they had a tendency to fade on the rare occasion that she felt lost. Her fur had retained its natural auburn color, but it was begging to take into it a certain greyish hue, one that was only noticeable whenever the light hit it in a specific way. In the time that it had taken for this to happen to her, only the span of about a year, it had caused her temper to become short, and because of this, anybody who knew Eve knew that they didn't want to run afoul of her or else the result would be an experience that was less than pleasant. But it wasn't her fault really because everybody reacts to stressful situations in their own way. She just simply ran out of patience and was never able to regain it. Their healers had tried everything that they could think of to help her get a hold on her anger, but no matter what berry she ate, whatever heinous liquid she drank, she would always find herself unable to control herself whenever some shit went down; which was an almost daily occurrence. But today it was not going to be one of those days. Today would be one of peace amongst the pack and the meat would be plentiful. Today Kate helped the pack in bringing down her first caribou, and as was tradition for her first kill, she was given the most succulent piece of meat from the carcass, the heart.

Kate had the heart of the caribou at her paws, along with a small pile of meat for herself while the other wolves all gathered about the large animal and took their own fair share, unfortunately, leaving very little to feed the omegas. Kate sat beside her proud father, her sister at his left shoulder, and her mother on the other side of herself, and watched as everybody ate their food; but Kate kept her eyes fixed upon the omegas as they lamely walked around the nearly clean carcass, picking up what little scraps of meat that they could scrounge up from the pink bones. It especially broke her heart to see Lilly amongst them. She knew that she had only met her yesterday, at least officially anyway, but she couldn't help feeling remorse in her behalf. Why should they have to starve day after day while everybody else ate as much as it was their leisure? She knew the spoken logic behind it, but she didn't see any tangible sense in the matter concerning the food rationing towards the omegas. They were just as important to the integrity of the pack as the alphas were. Sure they couldn't hunt and couldn't defend themselves in battle, but they were the only ones who had stood between the rival packs when they got into a skirmish, and kept everybody from killing each other when tempers inside of the pack flared. Kate also knew that given the proper circumstance at least a few of the omegas, like that Humphrey character and maybe his friend Salty could be useful in battle. Heck even her sister, though she hoped that it would never come to it for protecting the innocence of Sweets was one of her top priorities, could be trained to be a battle worthy fighter, someone who would defend her home with her life if she had to. She knew that it was wrong, this system that they had, but she knew that if she were to speak out against it she would be speaking out against the entirety of Allied Jasper, so she knew that there was practically nothing that she could do besides watch her new friend starve. Or maybe she could do something about it…

"Um, Mom? Dad?" she asked, gaining the attention of Winston and Eve.

"Yes dear?" Eve said sweetly.

"Can I be excused for a moment? I have some… things that I need to take care of," Kate informed, only speaking half of a lie.

Eve and Winston shot Kate looks of confusion then spoke.

"What do you need dear?" Winston asked, "Is it anything that we can help you with?"

Kate put on a look of fake embarrassment.

"No I don't think you can," she answered sheepishly.

Eve and Winston caught on to what their daughter was saying and they immediately let Kate go to take care of what she needed to do. Kate quickly left the scene to go behind a bush to "relieve herself;" but when she was out of eyesight, she sat down and thought. What could she do for the omegas in return for what they had done for her? She knew that she couldn't take down a caribou by herself, hell, no wolf could. But maybe she could catch them all some smaller game, like a rabbit or a grouse for each of them; and possibly she could take down a fawn that they could all split. That would hold them over for quite a while she thought, but now that her plan was set she needed to come up with a time to put it into play and an excuse as to why she was gone for so long when she did. All of this she would have to mull over throughout the course of the day because as of right now she was out of time, for she had been gone for too long as it was. Kate stood up and exited the bush, pushing her way through the meager branches and out into the Feeding Grounds. She shook some of the leaves that had fallen from the bush free from her fur and casually walked back toward her parents, but on her way she passed by Lilly and quickly whispered into her ear.

"I haven't forgotten."

The whisper was left unknown to anybody except for Kate, Lilly, and Kate's faithful crusher, Humphrey, and as such he was interested to hear what it was that Kate had said.

"What did she say?" he asked Lilly calmly.

Lilly turned to face Humphrey, her lavender eyes shining brightly in the midday sun.

"She just said that she hasn't forgotten," Lilly informed patiently, drawing a look of confusion from Humphrey.

Lilly giggled, for she could never be angry, or even annoyed for that matter, at anybody, and flipped her head fur, making sure to keep it over her left eye.

"She was probably talking about the bone that we gave her yesterday," she informed.

Humphrey slapped himself in the forehead and mumbled something about stupidity under his breath and then chuckled.

"Of course," he said, "but what do you think that this means?"

Lilly pondered the question for a moment and then shrugged.

"I don't know," she admitted, "maybe she plans on doing something nice for us in return?"

Humphrey shrugged as well and then was hit from behind by three masses, each of different size, and was sent flying to the ground, being buried instantly by the three bodies. There was an outburst of laughter from the four wolves and Lilly just sat back and laughed lightly at them as the four wolves rough housed. Kate simply rolled her eyes at the sound of their play and retook her seat by her father's side, watching the regular activities of the pack after they finished getting their meals. Some sat alone while others sat in pairs or groups of up to six and small talked with each other between bites of meat or laughed lightly, for even the alphas had a sense of humor to some extent.

"Kate, are you alright?" Kate heard her father ask.

Kate blinked her eyes when she realized that she had been spoken to and turned to see her family regarding her with faces that betrayed a noticeable amount of worry.

"Yeah I'm fine," she said to them with an assuring grin tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"You sure?" Eve pressed as any concerned mother would, "you seem distant lately, like there's something on your mind."

Kate chuckled a little at the remark.

"I'm sure, just thinking about the hunt," she affirmed, again speaking with an underlying truth in her words.

Both parents nodded, but Sweets knew her sister better than anybody else in the world, and she was easily able to see that there was more to this than Kate led on. This, however, she would keep to herself, for she did not want to cause any trouble at the given moment, but that did not mean that she wouldn't speak with her about it later. For right now though, she would enjoy the rest of her evening with her friends. She stood up and excused herself from her family, receiving consenting nods from them and ran over to where three other omega females sat in a small circle. One of them, the brown one that faced her, turned her head to the front and smiled when she saw her coming.

"Hey there Sweets," she called out happily to her, which in turn caused the other two, one blonde and the other slightly heavier than the rest with a grey-white pelt, whirled slowly around to face their approaching friend.

"Hey guys!" she replied with a smile and joined them, sitting down whenever she arrived before the brown one.

The others followed suit, sitting themselves down in a now slightly larger circle now that Sweets was added into it.

"So what goes on?" Sweets asked casually to anybody who felt like answering.

The blonde one sitting at Sweets' right was the first to answer.

"Not much, just hungry as always," she replied in a slightly joking manner.

Sweets knew how she felt, because even though she was the daughter of the Alpha Pair, the rationing laws still applied to her, and she only cracked a small smile when she heard the snide remark.

"Yeah I know," she replied, "but what can you do?"

The others nodded nonchalantly and a short silence ensued as the four tried to find a topic of which to speak about.

"So how did Kate like the little present that we all gave her?" the almost white wolf asked, finally breaking the silence.

Sweets smiled.

"It made her day," she said to them, "lifted her spirits right up."

The others nodded hearing this and smiles appeared on everybody's faces.

"Good to hear," the brown wolf said happily, receiving affirming nods from the other two.

"So what else is news?" the blonde wolf asked Sweets.

Sweets looked both ways to see if anybody was within earshot of their conversation and when she felt that it was safe she turned back to her friends and leaned her head n close to the center of the circle. The other three followed suit and the four moved their heads in until there was only but a two foot wide circle and it was then that Sweets spoke.

"Don't tell anybody else about this, but I think that Kate is up to something," she said to them in a hushed tone.

The others turned in the direction of the afore mentioned alpha, but Sweets turned them all back around by pulling on their shoulders with her paws.

"Don't look over there," she demanded firmly as she did.

Her friends all put on brief looks of guilt and then looked back to Sweets.

"Up to what?" the faded grey wolf asked, her voice also hushed.

Sweets shrugged.

"I'm not sure, but it may have something to do with the present you all gave her."

The others nodded slowly.

"Well what if it is?" the blonde wolf asked.

"I don't know," Sweets answered, "but she could be planning on returning the favor somehow."

This got her friends' attention.

"Return the favor you say?" the brown wolf asked intrigued.

"Could be," Sweets answered, "I'm gonna talk to her about it tonight and see if maybe I can get her to spill the beans."

The others nodded their heads and then the group of friends fell out into the normal topics of small talk that they usually spoke of, like the weather, boys, and secrets that the others had to keeping their pelts shiny, smooth, and knot free.

* * *

The crescent moon sat awkwardly above the land, seeming almost out of place with its skyward presence above the Howling Rock. The stars, however, gave balance to the serenity of the moon with their twinkling beauty in the indigo night sky. There was not a cloud to molest the natural beauty of the vast, star spangled span, something that everybody in the park enjoyed, even those who paid no heed to the smaller things in their lives. The earth was breathless and the air was cool in lee of the heat during the day, only adding to the perfect picture that Mother Nature had painted. Everywhere, wolves were retiring for the night, finally lying down after a long day of hard work or play, resting their bodies so that they may rouse the next day and begin the cycle all over. The same went for everybody in the Alpha Den, except for one, that is. Kate had a premeditated agenda to carry out tonight, and as she crossed over into her parents' den she let a fake yawn escape from her, which ultimately turned into a real one by accident. This did not matter to her, however, because it did little to affect her energy. Once this yawn was expunged, she blinked heavily and smacked her lips together.

"I'm gonna turn in for the night," Kate informed and began to make her way toward the back of the den where she slept.

The other members in her family turned to her when she said this and Winston was the first one to answer.

"Alright, goodnight baby girl," he said, walking up to her and giving her a quick nuzzle.

"Sleep well, Sis," Sweets then said in a sisterly tone.

"Night guys," Kate replied, running her eyes over each of them, "love ya."

"Love you too Kate," Eve answered with a smile.

Kate nodded one time and then turned, continuing her trek toward her sleeping spot near the back wall where upon arrival she circled three times over a single point and finally laid herself down, wrapping her tail around her body and letting her eyes fall closed as her head made contact with her paws.

"I think we should follow her example," Winston inquired, and began to lay himself down where he stood.

Eve and Sweets nodded, the former curling up beside her mate while the latter made her way to her spot in the back left corner of the den. She regarded Kate carefully as she passed her, seeing through the darkness of the den that her breathing was still much too quick for her to be asleep. Sweets smiled to herself as she laid herself down onto her chest, resting her head onto her forepaws; but she let her eyes remain fixed upon Kate, secretly plotting just how it was that she was going to let her sister know that she was onto her. Ten minutes passed by and then twenty and there was still not even a twitch from Kate; but just whenever Sweets thought that her sister had actually fallen asleep, a pair of glowing green eyes slowly opened up in the darkness, illuminating from the meager blue moonlight shining inside. Seeing this, Sweets immediately let hers fall closed and she waited, listening intently for her sister's movement. She heard a soft scrape as Kate picked herself up off of the floor but nothing else afterward. Sweets, assuming that her sister, being an alpha, was extremely quiet on her paws, and therefore had already begun to make her way out of the den; so she gave Kate a twenty second count inside of her head and then opened her eyes, surveying her surroundings. Finding that her sister had already vacated the premises, Sweets quietly righted herself up onto her paws and then began to sneak her way toward the front of the den, sidestepping past her still sleeping parents and then appearing in full view outside of the den a few moments later. She looked to her left, down the ramp and saw Kate already about half way down to the ground. With a dubious smile, Sweets turned herself around and began to back up toward the edge of the ramp's cliff, laying down once her tail was over the side and then pushing herself backward. Once her rear paws were hanging off of the edge, she dug the claws of her front paws into the ground and began to slowly slide herself backward until she was hanging from the ledge by her claws. Using a trick she had picked up from Kate herself, Sweets then let her body begin to slide down the face of the cliff, using her claws to slow her descent until her hind paws came into contact with the ground below. She then removed her now dull claws from the face of the cliff and set her paws in their proper positions before her and waited for her sister, knowing that she would have to come this way in order to get out into the main of the territory. She didn't have to wait long because not long after she set her paws on the ground she heard the soft breaths from Kate and the now less careful pawsteps approaching. Sweets then hid herself in a shadow against the cliff and held her breath as she waited for Kate to pass her, which she did only moments later without even a notion of Sweets' presence; that is until she heard "Going somewhere?"

Hearing this, Kate jumped and quickly whipped her body around to the source of the sound, finding none other than her little sister stepping into the moonlight from the cover of a shadow.

"Sweets," Kate asked, looking around in each direction, "what are you doing up? I thought you were asleep half an hour ago."

Sweets only chuckled.

"That's not important," she answered flatly.

Kate arched an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"What is," Sweets continued, "is the reason why _you _are sneaking out of the den."

Her speech was laced with inquisition and her gaze was very quizzical, and under it Kate sighed.

"Alright, you caught me," she said in a defeated tone, "I'm going out to find some food so I can repay all of the omegas for what they did for me yesterday."

Sweets smiled.

"That's great," she said happily, "I know that they would appreciate that a lot, especially coming from you."

Kate let a smile cross her muzzle as well and she turned, continuing on her way. Sweets held back a moment and then called, "Hey wait up!" and bounded over to her sister's side.

"Coming along too?" Kate asked in a happy tone.

Sweets nodded.

"Of course," she answered, "I have to go with you and make sure you don't get your ass handed to you by a rabbit."

At the remark Kate stuck her tongue out at Sweets, causing the latter to giggle and shove the former in a playful fashion. Kate shifted with the shove and then rocked back into equilibrium with her body's center of gravity and the two fell into silence as they walked out of the Den Area and out into the Hunting Grounds.

**I'll just cut it off right here cause if I got any further with this one it would be way too long. Hope you enjoyed it, sorry for the delay, and look for an update real soon.**


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